XDG directories - HOME folder (only appimage)

First and foremost consider this:

• Only RetroArch bugs should be filed here. Not core bugs or game bugs
• This is not a forum or a help section, this is strictly developer oriented

Description

I have XDG_DATA_HOME, XDG_CACHE_HOME, and XDG_CONFIG_HOME (and obvioulys HOME) configured in my environment.

When starting retroarch, some files are located in RetroArch-Linux-x86_64.AppImage.home, other at XDG_DATA_HOME, XDG_CACHE_HOME, and XDG_CONFIG_HOME.

Expected behavior

While it is good that retroarch respects my environment variables, the appimage is problematic, as it overrides HOME, and the initial configuration file are located at RetroArch-Linux-x86_64.AppImage.home.

I would prefer if all the data of retroarch (appimage) would be located consistently, and I believe putting everything in RetroArch-Linux-x86_64.AppImage.home would be the easiest way out.

The alternative solution would be to respect the user HOME too, and not even create RetroArch-Linux-x86_64.AppImage.home.

Actual behavior

not all XDG environment variables are respected.

Steps to reproduce the bug

0. Set up XDG_DATA_HOME, XDG_CACHE_HOME, and XDG_CONFIG_HOME to point somewhere in the home directory
1. Start and use retroarch (download cores, start games, ...)
2. Verify that RetroArch-Linux-x86_64.AppImage.home and config data exists
3. Verify that XDG_CONFIG_HOME contains some retroarch configs

Bisect Results

No bisect

Version/Commit

RetroArch - Frontend for libretro
Version: 1.16.0 (Git 14cb373) Oct 2 2023
Compiler: GCC (9.4.0) 64-bit

Environment information

• OS: Linux
• Compiler: x

No source file or test is named. Start by reproducing the AppImage launch with XDG_DATA_HOME, XDG_CACHE_HOME, XDG_CONFIG_HOME, and HOME set, then trace where RetroArch selects its configuration and data directories. Done means the AppImage handles these locations consistently without unexpectedly splitting configuration and data.